Discovering a different Jaisalmer

June 25, 2018

One can never fail but to be humbled by the hospitality of India’s rural population. Having “done” several monuments this morning in 38C, complaining bitterly about the heat, I wondered into this village. First I met a bunch of women on their daily walk to the well who invited me to go with them. Reluctantly, I politely declined, I had already spent 3 hrs in the heat and was suffering. Twenty year old Mandvi, 2 year old son on hip and heavily pregnant with number 2, promptly came over and invited me to meet the rest of her family. I was invited into her home, one room, with no a/c or fan and shared by many, where the little munchkin (in pic 2) couldn’t wait to show me her 2 month old brother (in the sling). Mandvi’s sister in law was sitting in the corner making a stack of rotis for the entire family before the day got too hot. Naturally they asked where I was from and if I was married and what I did. Surprisingly, Mandvi then asked how much I earned a month. What does one answer to this? As I was pondering my answer, she asked ‘500?’ Until yesterday, this would have been approx £5.00. Intrigued as to whether she genuinely considered this amount a monthly salary, I ventured a response of “No, 1000.” Her eyes widened. She looked at her sister in law and then back at me. They then invited me to sit on the only charpoi and insisted on giving me chai and roti. To refuse would be to turn down, true, genuine, Indian hospitality, they wanted nothing in return. These people have nothing, and live an incredibly harsh existence, yet consider it an honour to feed a stranger in their home. I later found out they were from the Untouchable cast. Monuments provide the photos but to truly experience this country one must venture to where it’s true heart lies which is with its rural population.

Philippa Kaye

I live in India but originate from Yorkshire. Two completely different worlds. My heart lies in India, my family live in Yorkshire, I juggle the two. I have lived in the jungles of Madhya Pradesh, the concrete jungle of Delhi and the city of Jaipur.
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